


Maybe We Should

by thornfield_girl



Series: Bits and Pieces [2]
Category: Justified
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 07:01:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3758827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thornfield_girl/pseuds/thornfield_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marriage equality comes to Kentucky. This was originally written to celebrate that occurrence, but I never got around to finishing it, so...here's what I have. This is in the To Show That You're Home series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe We Should

**Author's Note:**

> These are scenes and fragments of fics that I've been working on in this fandom, and to celebrate the end of this wonderful show, I wanted to share them with you now. Mostly they are chapters in ongoing series (but sorry, not the Tim/Raylan one--I know!). All of it is unfinished and unbeta'd.
> 
> I don't have much time to work on fic these days because all of my writing time now is taken up with original fiction, but I really miss these characters and it was fun for me to read back over this stuff. Justified has been a huge source of inspiration for me, and I wouldn't be having my first book published THIS SUMMER if it hadn't been for the support and encouragement of this fandom. 
> 
> If you're interested in my original stuff, please email me at thornfieldgirl@gmail.com and I'll give you my info. I'd never spam you! I swear! But if I get enough interest, I might be willing to write a little more Justified fic from time to time, just for you. :D Just in case you're really hoping for some more of that Tim/Raylan series, this may be your only hope!!!

"Oh, shit." 

Raylan mumbled this under his breath as he sat at his desk, scrolling through the headlines on CNN. His heart leapt into his throat for a second, just seeing the words, and then covered his mouth as he developed a giddy sort of expression on his face and found himself unable to school it into something less embarrassing. 

Judge Strikes Down Kentucky Marriage Ban

He reached for his phone to call Boyd, but stopped himself before he punched up his number. What was he actually doing? Was he planning to propose to Boyd, right now, on the phone from work? That didn't seem right. Boyd had once joked that he expected a hot air balloon for any forthcoming marriage proposal, but he couldn't have really meant something like that, could he? That was before marriage for them seemed like a real possibility.

There was an appeal pending, of course, but by now everyone could see the writing on the wall. In a matter of months, if they wanted to, they could do it. The question was, did he? Did Boyd? They were happy the way things were. They each had their own money, their own place - technically, at least. That wasn't really the way they ever talked about it, or thought about it. What would getting married actually change? They’d already set up power of attorney, in case one of them was injured or sick. Boyd had insisted on that, and had gotten all the paperwork together for Raylan to sign when he came down one weekend. Raylan had added Boyd to his life insurance policy. Boyd had his own health insurance, although it would be cheaper and better for Boyd to get on his policy. So that’s one in the positive column. 

None of that, of course, could be a deciding factor. They’d been together for over three years now, and they were in love. They were already committed to each other. Raylan couldn’t really imagine his life any other way, by now. So what did marriage mean to him, and what would it mean to Boyd?

“You buy a ring yet?” Tim’s sardonic voice floated in from somewhere outside Raylan’s head, and it took him a few seconds to register what he was saying. 

“What?” he asked stupidly. Then he realized what he was being asked. “Why would I do that? Guys don’t buy engagement rings for guys. Do they?”

Tim was looking at him with a great deal of amusement. “Well, they didn’t used to marry each other, either, dummy. Aren’t you gonna marry him? Jesus, Raylan, if two people ever should marry each other, if only to make the world safe for everyone else, it’s the two of you.”

Raylan looked at Tim for a few seconds, trying to get a grip on what he was feeling. Finally, he blew out a breath and said, “I should, right? I should marry him. We should get married.”

“Fuck yeah,” Tim snorted. “Never met a couple made me want to puke like you and Crowder.”

“You are such an ungrateful son of a bitch, Timmy. If it weren’t for me and Boyd- “

“Yeah, yeah,” Tim cut him off. “I know, Raylan. I do, actually,” he said, softening his tone a bit. “I’d love to be at your wedding.”

“I don’t think I’ll buy him a ring, though. He won’t want to wear more than a band, anyway, so...but I should get him something, right? Like some kind of...fuck, I don’t even know what.”

"Well, don't look at me," Tim said, "I'm no good at that shit. Ask one of his friends." Raylan must have made some kind of face, because Tim snorted and said, "By which I mean Neil. Text him, he'll help you."

Raylan shook his head. "He'll tell Boyd. He won't be able to help it. Plus he'll probably have dumb ideas that wouldn't suit Boyd at all. He'd probably tell me to put a ring in a champagne glass, or on a long-stemmed rose or some silly shit like that."

Tim let go with a howling laugh that drew the attention of everyone in the office. Rachel walked over and saw what was on Raylan's screen. 

"Oh my goodness! Raylan! Congratulations!"

"Don't I get a congratulations too?" Tim asked, apparently actually irritated. "He's already been married once, you know."

"Of course you do," Rachel said, and she gave him a hug. 

"Not that it's gonna do him any good any time soon, the way he's going," Raylan muttered. 

"Fuck you, Raylan. You have no room to talk. You spent years screwing around on the down low before you hung up your spurs.”

“Your business, man,” Raylan said, “but James ain’t gonna wait around forever for you to get it out of your system.”

“I never asked him to,” Tim replied. “We broke up, he can do whatever the hell he wants.”

Raylan shook his head. Tim had broken up with James after about six months, because he wasn’t ready to tie himself to one person yet. Raylan had understood that, and so had Boyd, and even James was philosophical about it. Only, it had been a year since then, and every time they ran into James, he still asked how Tim was doing. And in Raylan’s opinion, Tim wasn’t doing all that great. He was getting laid a lot, that was clear, but he didn’t seem very happy.

He looked at his monitor again, smiled, and pulled out his phone. It was stupid not to call Boyd. The call went to voicemail, though, so Raylan tried texting him. When he hadn’t received a text or call back in an hour, he texted Neil. 

_Talked to Boyd today?_

_Yep just a few minutes ago_

_Is he avoiding me, by any chance?_

_Hmmmm_

_Is it because he doesn’t want to talk about the thing?_

_Welllllllll_

_Alright, then_

_Dont be mad at him_

Raylan sighed and put his phone away. He wasn’t mad. If Boyd wanted to wait until they saw each other, that was fine with him. It was Tuesday, and normally Boyd would be coming up to stay over the next day, but this week he was away in Ohio on a demo job. Raylan wouldn’t be seeing him until Friday night, probably late, so he had a few days to figure out how he wanted to handle this conversation. He didn’t want Boyd to think he expected anything. If Boyd didn’t want to do it, Raylan was okay with that, but he also didn’t want him to think he'd be opposed to it. He wondered how many other couples across the state might be having this issue. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should, or that you want to. 

Two days later, on Thursday morning, Raylan woke up feeling slightly panicked. He still hadn't heard from Boyd, and he knew he had to think of something. He hadn't given it much thought, instead occupying his mind with work, and not going on the internet at all, but he’d be seeing him the next day, and he had to figure something out. He pulled out his phone and stared at it for a few seconds, then got up and walked to the bathroom, which was thankfully empty. He gritted his teeth and made a call he could never have imagined making. He just couldn’t think of anything else to do. 

“Raylan?” Joe answered, sounding worried. 

“Hey, Joe,” Raylan said, already regretting the call. 

“Is everything okay? Did something happen to Boyd?”

“No,” Raylan sighed, “he’s fine, sorry to scare you. I actually...shit. Well, I actually wanted your help with something, but maybe it was a bad idea. You know what, I can figure it out myself. I’m sorry I bothered you-”

“No, no! It’s fine, Raylan, what’s up?” When Raylan hesitated, he added, “I’d really like it if you’d tell me. I want to help if I can. Please.”

“Well...yeah, alright. It’s just, you might have heard about this court ruling that just came down.”

“Oh.” Joe was silent for a couple seconds, then said, “Yeah, of course I heard. He hasn’t called me or anything. Did you…?”

“He won’t return my calls or my texts,” Raylan admitted. “Which I can only assume is because he doesn’t want to talk about it over the phone, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s because he doesn’t want to talk about it at all. Like maybe he doesn’t want to do it, but he’s worried that I’ll be pissed about that, or maybe he thinks I don’t want to do it, and he’s afraid to hear that from me. I honestly don’t know.”

“I see,” Joe said. “Well, that seems kind of stupid, honestly, but just like him. I mean, I could see it being either one of those things you said. But...well, do _you_ want to? Or would you just be doing it to make him happy?”

“I don’t have to do it. I don’t need that to know I want to stay with him. If he doesn’t want to, I won’t be mad.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Joe said, and Raylan could just hear the smug smile on his face. 

Raylan hesitated, because he wasn’t actually sure about the answer to that. “I’ve been married before, you know.”

“Uh huh,” Joe said dryly. 

“It ain’t any kind of guarantee. It does make things _feel_ different, but it doesn’t actually make them any different. You still got whatever shit was in your relationship before. But it means something. I mean, it means something to me, anyway. Yeah, I do want to. I want him to feel like he’s...like I think of him that way.”

He heard Joe huff softly over the line. “I kind of hate you, Raylan. I mean, nothing personal.”

“Understood,” Raylan said, rolling his eyes.

“Boyd knows how you feel. He’d have to be an idiot not to see it, and he’s not an idiot. I can see it, and I don’t even want to. I’d think the worst of you, if I could. You don’t have to marry him to prove anything. But if you want to, then you should ask him. He won’t say yes if he doesn’t want to, unless he’s really changed that drastically in the past few years.”

Raylan laughed sharply, realizing that his worries on that front were completely ridiculous. “Right,” he said. “Thanks.


End file.
